Thursday, April 1, 2010

Etsy Contest - Mignonne

For this week's contest on Josiah's Nest, Mignonne is giving away one of her gorgeous silk flower hair clips!

What I absolutely love about Mignonne is how each flower is handmade, hand cut, pressed with a vintage milliner's iron and hand sewn together. Jennifer Wood, owner of Mignonne, incorporates not only her own blood and sweat into each hair piece, but also her own expression of beauty and taste, giving you a unique and one-of-a-kind work of art to wear in your hair.

I love big flower clips, and this specific hair clip really gets me in the mood for Spring, with it's fresh and vibrant antique-inspired colors. I would love to wear this piece for a special occasion like a wedding ceremony.

This week I am featuring Mignonne (www.mignonnehandmade.etsy.com), and I took some time to interview Jenn about her products and what makes them stand out among other Etsy sellers. See my interview below, as well as more details about how you can win one of her awesome flower hair clips.

Q: So, give us a summary of your store and the handmade products you sell:A: Handmade, vintage, pretty. I love French things too!

Q: What inspired you to start selling your products on Etsy, and how long have you had your shop?

A: I’ve had my shop for 2 years but only actually started using it about 7-8 months ago; now I love it!

Q: What makes your product(s) stand out amongst the rest?

A: I try to be unique with the style, colors and materials I use, I am super inspired by bygone eras.

Q: How much time a week do you spend on your business? Is this your job or just a hobby?

A: A fairly good amount, my most important job is Mom to my daughter, Emma, but Mignonne and Joliejour flowers get a pretty good chunk of my time as well.

Q: What first made you want to become an artist?

A: I’ve always been into art and making things since I was a small girl. I got a BA in Art History from Temple University in 2000 and have been moving forward with creating art ever since.

Q: How did you decide to get into your craft?

A: Love making things, and started making accessories cause I love to wear them.

A: Cooking is probably highest on that list. For 2 years now my family and I have been vegans at home (we eat almost every meal at home, en famille), I sometimes partake in dairy when at other peoples homes or in restaurants. Learning to cook without dairy, meat and eggs kind of forces you to get creative.

Q: What advice do you have for other Etsy sellers?

A: Good photos, good camera.

Q: What is your favorite product you've purchased from another Etsy seller?

A: I have gotten some really cool prints on Etsy.

Q: Let's get personal: where do you see yourself in ten years?

A: I really don’t know, as long as my family and I can travel, be together and be creative, I’ll be happy.

Q: What is something really interesting about you that others should know?

A: Hmmm, that is a hard one. I never know what someone else may find interesting. Well, I love French culture and if I could, I would love to live with my family in France for a few years, but I couldn’t go without my puppies- 2 boston terriers named Chuy and Olive- they’re our other kids!

Thank you, Jenn, for letting sharing with us what it looks like to be the owner of your awesome Etsy shop, Mignonne!

Now, to enter the contest and win this hair clip from Jenn's Etsy Shop:

Leave a comment and share your favorite Easter memory as a child.

If you wish to up your chances, you can also do any of the following, but you must leave a separate comment for each:

-Comment that you follow my blog

-Comment that you are my Facebook friend

-Comment that you are a fan of my Facebook Fan Page

-Comment that you follow me on Twitter

-Comment that you voted for my blog on TopBabyBlogs.com (simply click the link on the top left corner of my page)

-Comment that you Tweeted about this contest

-Comment that you Blogged about this contest

The contest starts NOW and ends this Easter Sunday, April 4th, at midnight CST.

The winner will be announced on Monday.

Please provide your email address in your blog profile, or in the comment that you leave on my post.

83 comments:

Hi :-)My mom left a trail of jelly beans from my bed to the easter basket....she told me that the bunny dropped the trail when he came to kiss me on my nose :-) It was sweet, and over the top...the way that my mom always did holidays in our house! I will be doing this for my children this year, can't wait to see the looks on their faces :-) They finally "get" holidays so it's really Fun! Have a great Holiday!~Sarahhttp://savvycouponmommy.blogspot.com

My parents hid presents instead of candy. So every year we had a different pattern paper and would hunt through the house for it. Loved it. Although we do a small amount of egg hunting with my kids, because of what my parents did, I always try to find a special memorable gift that they will really love and use.

when we were kids, we used to wake before mom and dad and find our hidden baskets. then, we'd pretend we didn't, but oddly we didn't even take detours when it was time to find them in front of the parents. they told us we cheated and we'd always say we didn't.

Growing up, my family and I would visit my great-grandmother in Indianapolis. We would color eggs in her kitchen, play games, and my parents would make our easter baskets. Sunday morning, we'd dress in our best and go to my Grandmama's black Baptist church with no air conditioning but long services and lots of hand fans! Some of my favorite childhood memories!

I only have one Easter memory from my childhood, always waking up sick. I think I threw up every Easter until I was 10, even at church, sorry Jesus. After I stopped getting sick every year, I was too old for all the excitement of it. NOW I am having a blast making sure MY kids have great Easters every year, decorating the house, making Easter treats and cookies, I hide eggs in their rooms and leave a basket at the foot of their bed so the excitement starts as soon as they wake up, and then they find their baskets, and next they look outside to see if there's eggs out there. SO much fun!

Well as horrible as it may sound....my fave memories from Easter were the presents. It was like Christmas morning on Easter morning. Plenty o candy and little toys and such and instead of red and green more like pastel colored wrappings and bags. I loved getting out of bed Easter morning and finding that the Easter bunny had come down the chimney just like Mom said he would.

Favorite Easter memory is that each year no matter how little mom had, she would always take us to Sears or Mongomery Wards and we would get those little lace gloves, hat and purse combos the sold in the '80s. I love my mom!

favorite memory is the BIG easter egg hunt that we had every year at the local park! It was HUGE, from what I remember and the hunt was probably a good quarter of a mile long (or so it seemed?)... it was a blast!

Favorite Easter memory as a child: it was basically an awesome fest of pastel colors :)...and lots of family! Favorite part as a kid was the candy. Favorite part as an adult is remembering the fact that Christ is risen.

And one bonus that wasn't required... I like pretty things and the hair clip is ever so pretty. Plus with three boys in the house this mama is in need of some girly-girl accessories just to balance the testosterone!

The Easter Bunny would always hide our baskets and we'd have to search the house for them. Mine was always in the dryer and later I learned that was where my mom's dad used to hide hers when she was little. I can't wait to pass on this tradition to our son :)